Fantastic Flix, ADIFF’s strand for young people aged 4-16, returns for its third thrilling year with the support of Cheestrings and featuring an exciting programme of international films for both families and school groups.

The Opening Film of the Fantastic Flix programme for young people, supported by Cheestrings, is Andrew Haigh’s Lean On Pete (15A), a moving drama featuring Steve Buscemi, Chloë Sevigny and an award-winning performance from Charlie Plummer.

Director of Collapsing Horse Theatre, Dan Colley, will give post-screening talks at both At Eye Level (12+), a father and son reunion tale, and Liyana (12+), a beautiful Swazi documentary with animated elements about a girl who goes to great lengths to save her younger brothers from harm. Director Meikeminne Clinckspoor will attend two screenings of Cloudboy (9+), an enchanting film about Niilas, who is sent to visit his mother in the wonderful forests of Lapland and learns about the Sami people.

Nora Twomey, director of the much-anticipated The Breadwinner, will introduce a screening of children’s classic My Neighbour Totoro. Brown Bag Films’ Vampirina (4+) and the Fantastic Flix Shorts (4+) are sure to delight the youngest budding cinemagoers. Actress Wilma Lundgren will attend the festival for her film, Room 213, a seriously spooky Swedish mystery. Other highlights include the terrific animations from France, The Big Bad Fox & Other Tales (6+), and Japan, Mary and the Witch’s Flower (6+).

The Fantastic Flix Children’s Jury, a collaboration with The Ark’s Children’s Council and the Irish Film Classification Office, returns for a second year, as do a fascinating choice of workshops in collaboration with The Ark.

How to Book

Tickets are released for sale at diff.ie from 7pm on 24th Jan and the Box Office is open at 12 East Essex Street (+353 (0) 1 68 77974) from 10 am 25th Jan. You can also follow and tag the festival on social media via Facebook, Twitter, the #ADIFF18 and the Immersive Stories #IMRSV18 and be sure to check out the ADIFF Podcast.

Geek Ireland Chief of Operations, Film and TV enthusiast who is a Disnerd in every sense of the word: Animation, Pixar, Live action, Marvel and especially, Lucasfilm lover. Also be warned - don't talk to her before she's had at least 1 cup of tea....for your own safety.